H.R. 4397, Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025

H.R. 4397 would designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and require the President to impose sanctions on members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The bill also would require the President to report to the Congress annually on Muslim Brotherhood chapters that pose a threat to the national security of the United States and whether sanctions have been imposed on those chapters.

The Administration has existing authority to sanction foreign persons and entities determined to pose a threat to national security and to designate organizations as a Specially Designated Terrorist Organization. Some chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood have been so designated. If the enactment of H.R. 4397 leads the Administration to broaden the application of those sanctions, additional persons would be subject to them. More people would be denied visas by the Department of State, resulting in an insignificant decrease in revenues from fees. Although most visa fees are retained by the Department of State and spent, some collections are deposited into the Treasury as revenues. Denying foreign nationals entry into the United States also would reduce direct spending on federal benefits (emergency Medicaid or federal subsidies for health insurance, for example) for which those people might otherwise be eligible.

In addition, if sanctions were applied more broadly under the bill, more transactions involving certain assets either in the United States or under the control of people or entities in the United States would be blocked. People who violate those sanctions would be subject to civil or criminal monetary penalties. Those penalties are recorded as revenues, and a portion can be spent without further appropriation.

Using data about similar sanctions, CBO estimates any additional sanctions would affect a small number of people; thus, enacting H.R. 4397 would have insignificant effects on revenues and direct spending, and would, on net, reduce deficits by insignificant amounts over the 2026-2035 period.

Based on the cost of reports similar to those required by this bill, CBO estimates that preparing those reports would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026‑2030 period. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate is David Rafferty. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.